1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to databases and, more particularly, to shared databases over networks.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, databases contain a large amount of data and require specialized database applications to view or access the data. These specialized database applications include, for example, Microsoft Access by Microsoft Corporation or FileMaker Pro by Filemaker, Inc.
Databases have sometimes been made available through a network such as a Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), intranet, or Internet. Such databases can be referred to as shared databases. A user of a shared database will want to either browse through the database or enter a query and then review the results of the query (i.e., a view of the database). A query is made through a network to the database by a requestor. In response to the query, the database can return to the requestor those records of the database that satisfy the query.
General browsing of an entire database is problematic because the size of the databases are often large. Even when a query is entered, the number of records that satisfy the query is also often large. Various problems occur when a large number of records are involved. One problem is that a long period of time is needed to transmit over the network all the records that are either contained in the database or satisfy a query. The transmission of such large amounts of data also leads to network congestion.
With the Internet, which is particularly congested and suffers from bandwidth constraints, some attempts have been made to send only a portion of the records that satisfy a query to a requester. This significantly reduces the transmission time and bandwidth requirement. For example, in the case where the network is the Internet and the results of a particular query yields one-hundred (100) records, then the first twenty (20) records can be initially transmitted over the Internet to the requestor. Thereafter, if the requester is interested in viewing any of the other records, these other records can be requested and supplied to the requestor in subsequent sets of twenty (20) records. With this approach, the record sets are sequential sets without the ability for the user to specify a particular range of the records. Typically, the requestor is permitted to select a next set of records or a previous set of records, where the set is a predetermined maximum number of records (e.g., 20). Accordingly, with conventional approaches, specific record ranges of a database were not able to be set by a requester.
Another problem is that the user wishing to browse or to scan through records in the database, or a view of the database, is unable to easily traverse between different record ranges of the database. There is also nothing to graphically indicate to the user which portion of the database the user is currently viewing.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved ways to interact with a database over a network such that record ranges can be easily selected by a user and that a portion of a database being viewed can be graphically depicted.
Broadly speaking, the invention relates to graphical user interfaces and techniques for requesting records from a shared database over a network. One aspect of the invention pertains to a record range control that allows easy selection of a record range to be viewed. Another aspect of the invention is a record range control that provides a graphical depiction of the record range to be viewed.
The invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as a method, an apparatus, a computer readable medium, and a computer system. Several embodiments of the invention are discussed below.
As a graphical user interface for a display screen of a computer system, an embodiment of the invention includes a background grid representing a complete set of records within a database; and a slider bar that slides over the background grid. The position of the slider bar with respect to the background grid identifies those records of the complete set of records to be retrieved or displayed.
As a computer-implemented method for displaying a visual indication of a position within a database having records, an embodiment of the invention includes: determining a record range within the database to view; and displaying a record range indicator on a display screen of a computer system. The record range indicator graphically illustrates the relative position of the determined record range within the database to be viewed.
As a method for requesting over a network a range of records of a database, where the database is stored in a first computer coupled to the network, an embodiment of the method includes: displaying a record range control on a display screen of a second computer system coupleable to the network, the record range control includes a background grid representing a complete set of records within the database, and a slider bar that slides over the background grid; dragging the slider bar with respect to the background grid to graphically select those records of the complete set of records to be retrieved; determining a selected record range based on the position of the slider bar with respect to the background grid following the dragging; and forming a request for the records within the database stored on the first computer using the selected record range.
As a computer readable medium containing computer program code for displaying a visual indication of a position within a database having records, an embodiment of the invention includes: computer program code that determines a record range within the database to view; and computer program code that displays a record range indicator on a display screen of a computer system, the record range indicator graphically illustrating the relative position of the determined record range within the database to be viewed.
As a computer readable medium containing computer code for requesting over a network a range of records of a database, the database being stored in a first computer coupled to the network, another embodiment of the invention includes: computer program code for displaying a record range control on a display screen of a second computer that is coupleable to the network, the record range control includes a background grid representing a complete set of records within the database, and a slider bar that slides over the background grid; computer program code for dragging the slider bar with respect to the background grid to graphically select those records of the complete set of records to be retrieved; computer program code for determining a selected record range based on the position of the slider bar with respect to the background grid following the dragging; and computer program code for forming a request for the records within the database stored on the first computer using the selected record range.
The invention has various advantages depending on the aspects of the invention being implemented. One advantage of the invention is that a graphical control allows a user to request a particular record range in a graphical manner. Another advantage of the invention is that the graphical control is easily manipulated to request particular record ranges. Still another advantage is that the particular record range that is requested is graphically depicted relative to the database as a whole so as to provide visual context as to the portion of the database being viewed. Yet another advantage of the invention is that a user is able to more efficiently browse a database or portion thereof (e.g., search or query results) because only a designated range of the associated records need be downloaded over the network (e.g., Internet) to the user.
Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the invention.